Me*tas"ta*sis (?), n.; pl. Metastases (#). [L., transition, fr. Gr. , fr. to place in another way; after + to place.]
1. Theol.
A spiritual change, as during baptism.
2. Med.
A change in the location of a disease, as from one part to another.
Dunglison.
3. Physiol.
The act or process by which matter is taken up by cells or tissues and is transformed into other matter; in plants, the act or process by which are produced all of those chemical changes in the constituents of the plant which are not accompanied by a production of organic matter; metabolism.
© Webster 1913.